The Football League play-offs for the 2001–02 season were held in May 2002, with the finals taking place at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The play-off semi-finals will be played over two legs and will be contested by the teams who finish in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Football League First Division and Football League Second Division and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th placed teams in the Football League Third Division table. The winners of the semi-finals will go through to the finals, with the winner of the matches gaining promotion for the following season.

Background

The Football League play-offs have been held every year since 1987. They take place for each division following the conclusion of the regular season and are contested by the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places.

In the First Division, Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were aiming to return to the top flight after nearly 20 years, finished 3 points behind their Black Country rivals West Bromwich Albion, who finished second and thus gained automatic promotion. Albion ended the season 10 points behind champions Manchester City, who returned to the Premier League after being relegated the previous season. Millwall who were aiming for a place in the top flight for the first time since 1990, finished in fourth place in the table. Birmingham City, who were aiming to return to the top flight for the first time since 1986, finished in fifth place. Norwich City finished 1 point behind Birmingham City and were looking for a place back in the Premiership for the first time since 1995.

First Division

Semi-finals

First leg

28 April 2002

12:00

Birmingham City	1–1	Millwall
Hughes 56'	Report	Dublin 80'

St Andrew's, Birmingham

Attendance: 28,282

Referee: Anthony Bates

28 April 2002

14:30

Norwich City	3–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Rivers 56' McVeigh 73' Mackay 90'	Report	Sturridge 22'

Carrow Road, Norwich

Attendance: 20,127

Referee: Roger Furnandiz

Second leg

1 May 2002

19:45

Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–0	Norwich City
Cooper 77'	Report

Molineux, Wolverhampton

Attendance: 27,418

Referee: Tony Leake

Norwich City won 3–2 on aggregate.

2 May 2002

19:45

Millwall	0–1	Birmingham City
	Report	John 90'

The New Den, London

Attendance: 16,391

Referee: Graham Laws

Birmingham City won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

12 May 2002

15:30

Birmingham City	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Norwich City
Horsfield 102'	Report	Roberts 91'
Penalties
John Devlin Lazaridis Carter	4–2	Roberts Mulryne Sutch Easton

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Attendance: 71,597

Referee: Graham Barber

Second Division

Semi-finals

First leg

28 April 2002

14:00

Stoke City	1–2	Cardiff City
Burton 84'	Report	Earnshaw 12' Fortune-West 59'

Britannia Stadium, Stoke

Attendance: 21,245

Referee: Tony Leake

Second leg

1 May 2002

19:45

Brentford	2–1	Huddersfield Town
Powell 14' Owusu 46'	Report	Booth 2'

Griffin Park, Brentford

Attendance: 11,191

Referee: Graham Barber

Brentford won 2–1 on aggregate.

1 May 2002

19:45

Cardiff City	0–2 (a.e.t.)	Stoke City
	Report	O'Connor 90' Oularé 115'

Ninian Park, Cardiff

Attendance: 19,367

Referee: Mike Dean

Stoke City won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final

11 May 2002

13:30

Brentford	0–2	Stoke City
	Report	Burton 16' Burgess 45' (o.g.)

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Attendance: 42,523

Referee: Graham Laws

Third Division

Semi-finals

First leg

27 April 2002

15:00

Hartlepool United	1–1	Cheltenham Town
Williams 45'	Report	Grayson 89'

Victoria Park, Hartlepool

Attendance: 7,135

Referee: Mike Dean

27 April 2002

15:00

Rushden & Diamonds	2–2	Rochdale
Wardley 34' Butterworth 73'	Report	McEvilly 8' Simpson 57'

Nene Park, Irthlingborough

Attendance: 6,015

Referee: Graham Barber

Second leg

30 April 2002

19:45

Cheltenham Town	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Hartlepool United
Williams 26'	Report	Arnison 17'
Penalties
Grayson Lee Yates Duff Finnigan Alsop	5–4	Smith Stephenson Arnison Henderson Watson Humphreys

Whaddon Road, Cheltenham

Attendance: 7,165

Referee: Andy Hall

Cheltenham Town 2–2 Hartlepool United on aggregate. Cheltenham Town won 5–4 on penalties.

30 April 2002

19:45

Rochdale	1–2	Rushden & Diamonds
Peters 65' (o.g.)	Report	Lowe 67' Hall 76'

Spotland, Rochdale

Attendance: 8,547

Referee: Roger Furnandiz

Rushden & Diamonds won 4–3 on aggregate.

Final

6 May 2002

15:00

Cheltenham Town	3–1	Rushden & Diamonds
Devaney 27' Alsop 49' Finnigan 80'	Report	Hall 28'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Attendance: 24,368

Referee: Tony Leake